November 12, 2016

Who did better in your Columbia County town, Trump or Clinton? Below is Board of Elections data this site has tabulated to answer that question, showing what percentage of the vote Trump got in each place.

Note that towns in blue went for Hillary, towns in red went for Donald; in some of these towns, Trump won with less than 50%, since some votes went to Stein, Johnson, or write-in candidates.

Countywide, Clinton won by 1.4%; Interestingly, however, Trump would have won by 3% countywide if not for the overwhelming result for Clinton in Hudson.

November 8, 2016

UPDATE, WEDS. A.M.: Teachout has conceded to Faso, and Barrett has prevailed.

Results posted at the Albany Times-Union site indicate that Zephyr Teachout is trailing John Faso substantially for the NY-19 Congressional seat, while incumbent State Assembly representative Didi Barrett is narrowly ahead of GOP challenger Terry Sullivan. But both races await large numbers of returns to come in yet, and thus can’t be called.

According to Hudson’s Peter Jung, Proposition 1 in Hudson—which would alter the boundaries of the City’s wards to give each Alderman an equal vote share on the Common Council—passed tonight by a vote of roughly 1440 to 560. Jung believes it prevailed in all five Hudson Wards, with the vote being close in only the 5th.

September 2, 2016

Just as the Columbia County Fair was about to open, a top local Democratic official stated on Tuesday in the midst of a testy email exchange that the popular event “always attracts lowlife.”

The official, County Democratic Committee Treasurer Deb Shakotko, is said to be resigning her post later this year. A request for comment from Shakotko has not been returned at the time of this post.

The inflammatory comment arose in the context of a seemingly benign suggestion that Democrats join efforts to help a young leukemia sufferer in the community.

That mild suggestion touched off a touchy internal wrangle among committee members—eliciting Shakotko’s eyebrow-raising remark, while also shedding a rather dismal light on the CCDC’s internal dynamics.

The wrangle began as a simple request from Ghent committee members Patti Matheney and Judy Rusk, urging the County Democrats to join others assisting the family of a local child who has been diagnosed with a very rare form of the disease.

Matheney had been informed by the child’s parent at an August 29th meatball fundraiser at the Chatham firehouse that the County Republicans were planning to put out a collection plate at the Fair. (The GOP effort was reported spearheaded by County Clerk Holly Tanner.) The child’s parent, said to be quite liberal, wondered if the Democrats might do the same.

CCDC Treasurer Deb Shakotko (Source: Facebook)

In relaying Matheney’s conversation and the proposal, Rusk wrote to four party officers that “We are always looking for ways to get P.R. for the Dems. This seems like a wonderful opportunity for us while doing a humanitarian act.”

Initially, Bujanow, Shaktoko and Mayer questioned or even opposed the idea, concocting a wide range of reasons not to support it. When news leaked of their reluctance, this led to significant pushback among more rank-and-file Democrats.

Within minutes of Rusk’s proposal to the Democratic officers early Tuesday morning, Shakotko shot back via email that

“there are so many worthy causes and we have not vetted them all. It could very well be there are other more worthy causes we should showcase in our booth. We ought to think carefully about this [...] We would also need someone to guard any money collected like a hawk as the fair always attracts lowlife.”

Rather than questioning, let alone denouncing, Shakotko’s characterization of the popular County festival, the Dem leadership on the email thread rushed to support her stance on the issue.

Mayer replied that “Deb has restated my thoughts so clearly, so fairly.”

Bujanow replied that “I concur with both Deb and Debby.”

Shakotko added that former CCDC chair “Cyndy [Hall] indicated to me yesterday that even her tables and chairs were stolen at the fair.”

Mayer chimed in again, seemingly eager to deflect the issue:

“I will be working the booth and my focus will be our candidates by electing progressive candidates we have a better chance at addressing problems like this (funding health care).”

Tellingly, however, at least one local Democratic candidate on the ballot this fall has not been invited to circulate literature or be present at the Dems’ fair booth.

Matheney pointed out the discrepancy: “I thought it was of the upmost importance that the booth represent our local candidates. I posed this question to Debby, but I received no response as to why Matthew [Nelson, Town Council candidate in Kinderhook] wasn’t asked.”

Above: The CCDC website omits several key Democratic candidates on the ballot this Fall

Meanwhile, several Democratic candidates, including State Assembly member Didi Barrett along with Nelson, do not appear on the CCDC’s website list of “candidate campaign websites.”

For his part, Bujanow dismissively stated that he didn’t have time for an “intense” conversation with Matheney. But finally, after hearing from numerous Democrats that they were disappointed, Bujanow announced that

“the Columbia County Democratic Committee wishes to support an effort to raise funds for [...] a 12 year old boy from Ghent/Chatham with a rare form of leukemia and that a donation container will be placed at the Democratic Booth located at the Columbia County Fair. ”

Bujanow profusely thanked and credited Rusk with bringing the matter to the fore—studiously omitting mention of its origination and advancement by Matheney—or the resistance put up by the officers before caving in to common political sense.

So what is really going on here?

It’s a poorly-kept secret among Democrats that Bujanow and other top County Democrats hold some antipathy to Matheney, the founder of GhentCAN who got herself elected to her Town Board last fall—an antipathy which often extends to other Democratic activists and candidates perceived to be allied with her. For example, Bujanow was accused behind the scenes last fall of not avidly supporting Nelson’s bid to unseat Kinderhook’s GOP Supervisor Pat Grattan... Nelson and Matheney being viewed as allies.

The CCDC has been seen as largely ineffectual for many years. In 2013, two of its more visible incumbents lost their re-election bids, Claverack Supervisor Robin Andrews and Copake Town Justice Brian Herman.

In 2015, Democrat Ken Golden’s attempt to unseat District Attorney Paul Czajka fell far short, while the Dems did not even contest the Republicans’ choices for County Treasurer and Coroner. Two Democrats running for Town Board in Germantown failed to unseat a lone Republican there. Perennial candidate and CCDC member Lee Jamison lost yet again in Stuyvesant, this time to Ron Knott, despite having celebrity running mate Frank Serpico on the ballot with her.

Surface gains of Supervisor seats in Chatham (Maria Lull beating Jesse DeGroodt) and New Lebanon (Colleen Teal over Mike Benson) have rung hollow, with Lull and Teal both known as Republicans who wound up on the Dem line only after feuds with their local GOP leadership.

Meanwhile, many GOP incumbents in other towns—including Gallatin, Copake, Stockport, et al.—ran with no Democratic opposition at all.

The progressive efforts of candidates like Matheney (who has gained renown for her effective activism on issues surrounding the County airport, economic development cronyism, and most recently rural broadband access) appear to be resented, rather than embraced by top Democrats in the County.

Such successes are viewed by some Democrats not as a model for how to win elections and prevail on key issues, but rather as a threat to their cozy positions—and a counterexample to their excuses for not being effective in their own right. The County Committee as a whole is viewed by many as at best aloof—with Bujanow notorious for not returning calls—and at worst hostile to those eager to volunteer their time and effort to their party.

Thus when the straightforward, win-win request to assist a local family dealing with a major health crisis came in, the email exchanges between these officers appear to reflect more an antipathy to the source of the request, than an engagement with its substance.

Across the tenures of several recent County chairs, local Democrats seem to be more focused on rivalries and turf wars than on the mechanics of winning elections. The key elements of successful campaigns—such as raising key issues, candidate cultivation, volunteerism, media relations, database development, fundraising, get-out-the-vote mechanics—often appears to be secondary to petty internecine warfare.

(Endnote: Curiously, CCDC 2nd vice chair Gene Keeler doesn’t appear to have been included in the main email conversation. Keeler later wrote that “I support [Matheney and Rusk’s] request and respectfully ask the leadership to support this matter as requested and with time of the essence to have a review of this matter today.”)

February 4, 2016

UPDATE #4: Da|Ba was packed on Saturday night for dinner and drinks for a remarkable, impromptu gathering of friends and family. The restaurant’s final service was Sunday, with people invited to visit with the family today (Monday) from 2-6 pm.

UPDATE #3: Over $45,000 in donations have been raised from the community as of Sunday at 1 pm to assist the Nilsson family. You can donate here.

UPDATE #2: Bob Rasner posted the following message on Facebook from the Nilsson family:

A Message from Daniel Nilsson’s Family

We are very grateful for the outpouring of affection for our Daniel. We all miss him.

We invite everyone who wishes to share their memories to meet on Monday, February 8th between 2pm and 6pm at DA|BA.

The funeral will be private and no charity has been designated. We are planning a memorial service open to everyone in the community for Daniel’s birthday, March 18th. More information will be posted at a future date.

UPDATE #1: Philmont native and Da|Ba regular Bob Macfarlane, who was also at the restaurant the evening before Dan’s death, turned up this 2014 article which captures some of the essence of Dan’s work and presence.

Hudson is awash in tears today over the untimely, unfathomable and genuinely tragic passing of Da|Ba owner Daniel Nilsson, said by a source in contact with the State Troopers to have died by his own hand on a family member’s farm.

I saw Dan just last night at his restaurant. We didn't get a chance to speak, as he was in conversation with another table. His rich chanterelle soup and clever tacos were as splendid as ever, and there was no sense of anything amiss. In recent days he had been posting hilarious photos of customers, his family and himself taken in a temporary Da|Ba photobooth.

I met Dan at the moment he landed in Hudson, while out canvassing for voters with Abdus Miah, probably in Spring 2005. A jolly young man was standing by his car near Jubilee (now Savoia), and we tried to register him to vote. He explained that he couldn't yet, but that he was here to look at the Paramount building across the street. If he bought it, he vowed to register right away.

Dan was full of life, and larger than it. He made friends easily, kept things fun, cared about his customers, provided countless people with needed work, and made a beautiful family.

That he is gone is deeply upsetting and baffling. If there was one quality to learn from Dan, it might be his absence of judgement toward others—his embrace of the many personalities and foibles which came through the Da|Ba door. And so one must honor his painful choice, even as we bitterly regret his sudden absence.